Climate Finance and Project Design Specialist At World Food Programme

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

JOB TITLE: Climate Finance and Project Design Specialist

TYPE & LEVEL OF CONTRACT: When Actually Employed (WAE) – International Consultant Level II

UNIT/DIVISION: Resilience and Climate Team, Humanitarian and Transitions Unit – Regional Bureau Cairo

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Home-based with some travel to Regional bureau in Cairo and country offices

REPORT TO: Regional lead for climate action & climate finance

DURATION: 90 days in total during an 8-month period, to start ASAP

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

WFP’s Regional Bureau for the Middle East and Northern Africa (RBC), based in Cairo, Egypt, provides strategic guidance, policy/technical support and direction to WFP operations and activities in 15 countries: Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, State of Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen and Ukraine. These country offices aim to assist roughly one-third of all of WFP’s beneficiaries (approx. 30 million) in some of the most critical humanitarian emergencies of our time. RBC is also active in the ‘Changing Lives’ side of WFP’s mandate, helping national governments and local communities improve nutrition, livelihoods, school feeding, social protection, climate and disaster risk reduction and other programmes that build resilience and support development.

WHY WORK AT WFP?

SAVING & CHANGING LIVES Make a difference the world will notice. We are driven by our mission to fight world hunger and feed people’s dreams of a brighter future.

GLOBAL COMMUNITY Build bridges that unite people across the world. Being part of a global, diverse and multicultural community like WFP, will continuously expose you to new ideas and perspectives. How we deliver our mission in deep respect for personal and cultural differences and close collaboration between every member of our global team, will certainly enrich your experience and knowledge on so many levels.

UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES Unlock possibilities you never thought you’d find. WFP goes anywhere it is needed and does whatever it takes to get the job done.

LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE Reach beyond yourself and discover your true potential. WFP offers the kind of life-changing experiences you’re unlikely find in many other organizations.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Assisting more than a 100 million people in around 90 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies, and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.

WFP is fully aware of the impact that the climate crisis is currently having on achieving Zero Hunger by 2030 (SDG 2). Findings from the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that climate change could increase the risk of hunger and malnutrition by up to 20 percent by 2050, and its impacts will be felt disproportionately on the most food insecure and vulnerable.

WFP is committed to step up the number and scale of its climate-related interventions to support adaptation efforts of vulnerable people and governments globally, focusing on food and nutrition security. With the growing need to quickly adapt to climate change and the increasing demand from governments in the MENA region to receive support from international organizations to scale up responses, WFP is investing in enhancing its readiness to access climate finance resources. This investment is part of a regional ‘Climate Readiness Initiative’ and focuses on enabling WFP country office teams to strategically engage with resource mobilization opportunities by mapping out and prioritizing key bilateral finance windows, government priorities, and develop initial project ideas based on local context.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Under the supervision of the Resilience and Climate team in the WFP Regional Bureau in Cairo, and working directly with WFP country offices, the consultant will be responsible for undertaking a landscape assessment and to develop corresponding project ideas. The landscape assessment should focus on mapping out government plans, donor/financier requirements and priorities, and local needs, matching these with WFP mandate and capacities, to determine areas of strategic intervention. The assessment should also include a review of existing activities undertaken by WFP and relevant partners, elaborating on potential interlinks and opportunities for complementarity. The purpose of the assignment is to collect the information necessary for the development of a priority matrix for climate adaptation projects in different countries, as well as a scoping note for the one or more of the proposed project ideas. The scoping note template includes a theory of change, results framework, evidenced contextual description, project/climate rationale, and recommendations on guidance for next steps.

Each assignment may differ depending on local context and WFP country office needs and a specific workplan will be developed for each country assignment. It is expected that the WAE consultant will undertake this exercise for at least three countries (estimated 30 working days per country). A list of key tasks include:

Desk review of previous studies, assessments, national plans in the pre-identified activity areas. The review shall also cover the programme portfolio of the WFP CO and ongoing work by other agencies to establish potential linkages between existing work and the activity areas under study. Deliverable: Proposed interventions in these activity areas
Evidence building for previous and ongoing projects, including the active actors, to identify the evidence around the proposed project, and identify potential partners in specific geographic locations, with possible inclusion of a sensitivity analysis for the political environment and conflict risk assessment. Deliverable: The justification, context, and rationale for the proposed interventions, including gaps in the evidence to justify funding when approaching donors/FIs.
Donor mapping to match the identified project ideas and activity areas with potential donors and financial institutions, including through partnerships. Deliverable: List of donors/FIs with project specific funding pools and/or expressed interest in the country under study.
Deliverable: Develop a Priority Identification Matrix for projects and donors.
Deliverable: Develop a Scoping Note for up to 3 priority projects.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in one or more of the following disciplines: climate change adaptation, environmental studies, agriculture and food security, development studies and geography.

Experience: A minimum of 6 years post graduate, progressively responsible, job related experience in food security, climate change adaptation, environmental management, disaster risk reduction or related area.

Knowledge & Skills: • Proven experience and ability to design and develop climate adaption projects. • Strong familiarity with climate finance and donor landscape and priorities. • Proven ability to coordinate across multiple stakeholders. • Excellent communication and writing skills. • Familiarity with WFP and the UN system will be regarded as an asset • Excellent written and spoken English. • Proficiency in Windows, MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

Languages: Fluency (proficiency/Level C) in written and spoken English language is required. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of second official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese (a WFP working language)), especially Arabic would be a plus.